That could have been what happened to mine.  Most of the time I pushed the
reset button while stopped, but a few times, I pushed it while the van was
moving.  It worked so well during the past 2 years.  I do know that the trip
counter had 8 miles on it when it konked out, so it probably didn't happen
at the time I reset the mileage.
Patti
90 Westy Automatic
*******************************************************

On Thu, Jul 23, 2009 at 10:54 PM, Robert Fisher <refisher@mchsi.com> wrote:

> Not an old wives tale, you just haven't broken yours yet. Mine busted while
> I still had my thumb on the button, rolling out of the gas station, just as
> advertised.
> Pushing the button forces the gears backwards against the rotation that the
> speedo connection puts on them- I saw that when I repaired mine. Next time
> you have one in your hand check it and see. There's enough slop in there
> that you'll get away with it for a while, but eventually something's got to
> give.
>
> Cya,
> Robert
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
> Jake de Villiers
> Sent: Thursday, July 23, 2009 10:37 PM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Re: Odo/Trip Counter
>
> Old wives tale, that.  I've been pushing my reset button on the move for
> ~145,000 miles on the one van and  ~15,000 miles on the other and my
> odometers are both still working.
>
> Of course, now that I've said that publicly they'll both die next week!  =)
>
> On Thu, Jul 23, 2009 at 6:09 PM, Geo & Kathleen Hahn <
> ahwahnee@cybertrails.com> wrote:
>
> > Perhaps worth mentioning as an ounce of prevention (unless this is an
> urban
> > legend) that one should never push the reset button whilst the van is
> > moving.  Easy to do as you pull away from the pump and realize you didn't
> > zero the trip odo... but I believe it can break the works.
> >
> > Doesn't break it every time (I can attest to that) but it's risky
> behavior.
> >
> > Geo
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Mark Tuovinen" <mst@AK.NET>
> > To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
> > Sent: Thursday, July 23, 2009 12:16 PM
> > Subject: Re: Odo/Trip Counter
> >
> >
> >
> >> There is information in the archives and on various websites on how to
> >> repair it yourself...
> >>
> >
>
>
> --
> Beverley Anne de Villiers   April 20, 1930 - July 4, 2009
>
> Jake
>
> 1984 Vanagon GL
> 1986 Westy Weekender "Dixie"
>
> Crescent Beach, BC
>
> www.thebassspa.com
> www.crescentbeachguitar.com
> http://subyjake.googlepages.com/mydixiedarlin%27
>